Indie Design tools

74 design products built by independent developers and small teams.

Looking to replace something? Canva · Figma · Adobe Illustrator · Axure · Feather Icons · Inkscape · Placeit · Smartmockups · Balsamiq · CorelDRAW · Font Awesome · Font Book

Acorn

Affordable image editor for Mac

A Mac image editor with layers, filters, vector tools and RAW support, aimed at people who find Photoshop too heavy.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Amadine

Vector graphics app for Mac and iPad

Vector drawing and illustration app for macOS and iPadOS, aimed at illustrators and designers who want a simpler alternative to Illustrator.

Paid · Mac, iOS · Website ↗

Artboard Studio

Online product mockups and scenes

Browser-based tool for creating product mockups, scenes and animated presentations.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Aseprite

Animated sprite editor and pixel art tool

A pixel art and sprite animation editor with layers, frames, onion skinning and sprite sheet export. Popular with game developers.

Paid · Windows, Mac, Linux · Website ↗

Balsamiq

Low-fidelity wireframing tool

Wireframing tool with a sketch-like style for quickly planning app and website layouts before visual design.

Paid · Web, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Bannerbear

Generate images and videos via API

API for auto-generating images and videos from templates, e.g. social media graphics and OG images.

Paid · Web, API · Website ↗

Blobmaker

Generate organic SVG blob shapes

Small web tool for generating random organic blob shapes as SVG.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Blush

Customizable illustrations

Library of customizable illustrations by artists from around the world, with plugins for design tools.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Boxy SVG

Vector graphics editor built around the SVG format

A vector editor for creating and editing SVG illustrations, icons and diagrams, available as a desktop and web app.

Paid · Web, Mac, Windows, Linux · Website ↗

ColorSlurp

Color picker for Mac and iOS with palettes and contrast checks

A color picker for picking colors from your screen, saving palettes, checking contrast and copying codes in many formats.

Free plan · Mac, iOS · Website ↗

Coolors

Fast color palette generator

A palette generator where you press the spacebar to create color schemes, then lock, adjust and export them. Includes palette browsing and image color extraction.

Free plan · Web, iOS, Browser extension · Website ↗

draw.io

Free diagramming tool for flowcharts and architecture

A free diagram editor for flowcharts, UML, network and architecture diagrams that works online, offline and inside other tools.

Free · Web, Windows, Mac, Linux · Website ↗

Excalidraw

Hand-drawn style online whiteboard

Open-source virtual whiteboard for hand-drawn style diagrams, flowcharts and sketches, with live collaboration.

Free · Web · Website ↗

fffuel

Collection of free SVG generators and color tools

A set of free browser tools for generating SVG backgrounds, patterns, gradients, shapes and textures for web design.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Fontjoy

Generate font pairings with deep learning

A free tool that suggests combinations of Google Fonts for headings and body text, with live editable preview.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Fotor

Online photo editor and graphic design

Online photo editing and graphic design tool with retouching, collages and AI image features.

Free plan · Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android · Website ↗

GIMP

Free, open-source raster image editor

GNU Image Manipulation Program, a cross-platform editor for photo retouching, image composition and digital painting.

Free · Mac, Windows, Linux · Website ↗

Glyphs

Professional font creation app for Mac

A font editor for designing typefaces, from drawing glyphs to spacing, kerning and exporting fonts.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Graphite

Open-source, node-based 2D graphics editor in the browser

A free vector and raster editor that combines layer-based editing with a node graph for procedural design, running in the browser.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Haikei

Generate unique SVG shapes, waves and backgrounds

A web app for generating customizable SVG design assets like waves, blobs, gradients and patterns for websites and graphics.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Hero Patterns

Free repeatable SVG background patterns

A collection of repeatable SVG background patterns you can customize and copy as CSS.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Huemint

AI color palette generator previewed on real designs

Generates color palettes with machine learning and previews them on brand, website and illustration mockups.

Free · Web · Website ↗

IconJar

Icon organizer for designers on Mac

A Mac app for storing, searching and organizing icon collections and dragging them into design tools.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Iconoir

Open-source library of free SVG icons

A free, open-source set of SVG icons with packages for React, Vue and Flutter and a Figma library.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Icons8

Icons, illustrations, photos and music for designers

Library of icons, illustrations, photos and music in consistent styles, plus design tools.

Free plan · Web, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Inkscape

Free, open-source vector graphics editor

Cross-platform vector graphics editor that uses SVG natively, for illustrations, logos, diagrams and print designs.

Free · Mac, Windows, Linux · Website ↗

Jitter

Motion design in the browser

Web-based motion design tool for animating UI, social posts and logos, exporting to video, GIF or Lottie.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Kittl

Browser-based graphic design tool with templates and AI

Online design tool for logos, posters, social graphics and merch designs, with templates, typography effects and AI image tools.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Krita

Open-source painting app for illustrators and concept artists

A free, open-source digital painting program with brushes, layers and animation tools. Aimed at illustrators, comic artists and texture painters.

Free · Windows, Mac, Linux, Android · Website ↗

Linearity Curve

Vector design app for Mac and iPad

Vector graphic design app (formerly Vectornator) for illustrations, logos and layouts on Mac and iPad.

Free plan · Mac, iOS · Website ↗

Lucide

Open-source icon library for web and design projects

A community-maintained set of clean, consistent SVG icons with packages for React, Vue, Svelte and more.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Lunacy

Free graphic design app with built-in icons, photos and illustrations

Desktop UI and graphic design editor by Icons8 that opens Sketch files and includes built-in libraries of icons, photos and illustrations.

Free plan · Mac, Windows, Linux · Website ↗

MagicaVoxel

Free lightweight voxel art editor and renderer

A free voxel modeling and path-tracing renderer for creating 3D voxel art and game assets.

Free · Windows, Mac · Website ↗

Mockuuups Studio

Drag-and-drop device and scene mockups for apps and websites

A mockup tool with a large library of realistic device and lifestyle scenes, where you drop in screenshots to generate marketing images.

Free plan · Web, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Monodraw

ASCII art and text diagram editor for Mac

A Mac app for drawing diagrams, boxes and flowcharts as plain-text ASCII art for code comments and docs.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Moqups

Online wireframes, mockups, diagrams and prototypes

Web app that combines wireframing, mockups, diagrams and prototypes in one collaborative workspace.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Open Peeps

Hand-drawn mix-and-match illustration library

Free library of hand-drawn people illustrations that can be combined to create characters.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Pattern Monster

SVG pattern generator

Online generator for customizable, repeatable SVG patterns for backgrounds.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Pencil Project

Free open-source GUI prototyping tool

Open-source desktop tool for drawing GUI mockups, wireframes and diagrams with built-in shape collections.

Free · Mac, Windows, Linux · Website ↗

Penpot

Open-source design and prototyping tool for teams

Browser-based design and prototyping tool built on open web standards, with self-hosting available. Used by designers and developers for UI design, components and prototypes.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

Phosphor Icons

Flexible open-source icon family with multiple weights

A free icon family with thousands of icons in six weights, available for web frameworks, Figma and as SVG.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Photopea

Free browser-based photo editor that opens PSD, XCF and Sketch files

A full-featured image editor that runs in the browser, supporting layers, masks and Photoshop PSD files. Built for people who need Photoshop-style editing without installing software.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Pika (pika.style)

Turn screenshots into beautiful images

Add backgrounds, frames and mockups to screenshots for social posts and docs.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Piktochart

Infographic and visual report maker

Web-based tool for creating infographics, reports, posters and presentations from templates.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Pixlr

Online photo editor and design tool

Browser-based photo editor and design suite with layers, AI tools and templates.

Free plan · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

Placeit

Mockups, logos and video templates online

Online library of mockups, logo makers, design templates and video templates by Envato.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

PlantUML

Create UML and other diagrams from plain text

An open-source tool that generates sequence, class, activity and other diagrams from a simple text language.

Free · Web, Windows, Mac, Linux · Website ↗

Plasticity

3D CAD modeling for concept artists and designers

A NURBS-based 3D modeling app with an artist-friendly interface, aimed at hard-surface and industrial design.

Paid · Windows, Mac, Linux · Website ↗

Polotno Studio

Free in-browser graphic design editor

A browser-based design editor for social media graphics, posters and presentations with templates and text, photo and shape tools.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Previewed

Mockup and app store screenshot generator

An online tool for making device mockups, 3D animations and app store screenshot sets for app marketing.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

ProtoPie

High-fidelity interactive prototyping

Prototyping tool for realistic, interactive app and device prototypes using sensors, variables and logic, without code.

Free plan · Mac, Windows, Web · Website ↗

QuarkXPress

Professional page layout and desktop publishing software

Desktop publishing software for print and digital layouts such as books, magazines and marketing materials.

Paid · Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Realtime Colors

Preview color palettes and fonts on a real website layout

A tool for choosing text, background, primary and accent colors and fonts while seeing them on a live sample site, with export to CSS and Tailwind.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Recraft

AI image generator for vector art and design

AI design tool for generating and editing raster and vector images, icons and brand-consistent graphics.

Free plan · Web, API · Website ↗

RightFont

Font manager for Mac designers

A Mac app for browsing, activating and organizing local and Google fonts, with integration into design apps.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Rive

Interactive animations for apps, games and websites

Design and animation tool for interactive, state-driven vector animations that run in apps, games and websites via runtimes.

Free plan · Web, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Rotato

Animated 3D device mockups for app and website promo videos

A Mac app for creating 3D device mockups and animated videos of apps and websites without 3D skills. Used for marketing images and product videos.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Scribus

Open-source desktop publishing and page layout

Free desktop publishing application for page layout of magazines, brochures, newsletters and print-ready PDFs.

Free · Mac, Windows, Linux · Website ↗

Shots

Create device mockups and stylish screenshot images in the browser

A web tool for placing screenshots in device frames and styled backgrounds to make shareable mockup images.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Sip

Color picker and palette manager for Mac

A menu bar color picker for Mac that grabs colors from anywhere on screen and organizes them into palettes with many export formats.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Sketch

Mac app for UI design, prototyping and design handoff

Native macOS design tool for interfaces, icons and prototypes, with a web app for sharing, inspecting and handing off designs.

Paid · Mac, Web · Website ↗

Snappa

Quick graphics for social media, blogs and ads

Online graphic design tool focused on making social media images, blog graphics and ads quickly from templates.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Spline

Collaborative 3D design in the browser

Web-based 3D design tool for creating interactive 3D scenes, objects and animations for websites and apps.

Free plan · Web, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Storyset

Free customizable and animated illustrations

Free illustration library from Freepik where you can customize colors and animate illustrations.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Tabler Icons

Thousands of free open-source SVG icons

A large set of free, MIT-licensed outline and filled icons for web and app interfaces, with framework packages and Figma plugin.

Free · Web · Website ↗

Typeface

Minimal font manager and previewer for Mac

A Mac font manager focused on quickly previewing, tagging and comparing installed fonts.

Paid · Mac · Website ↗

Uizard

AI-assisted UI design and wireframing

Web-based tool that generates app and web UI mockups from text prompts, screenshots or hand-drawn sketches.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

unDraw

Free customizable open-source illustrations

A collection of free SVG and PNG illustrations whose accent color you can change, for websites, apps and presentations.

Free · Web · Website ↗

UXPin

Code-based UI design and prototyping

Design and prototyping tool that can use real coded components, aimed at product teams with design systems.

Paid · Web, Mac, Windows · Website ↗

Vectorpea

Browser-based vector graphics editor from the maker of Photopea

An online vector editor for drawing and editing SVG, AI and PDF files in the browser. Useful for logos, icons and illustrations without installing desktop software.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Venngage

Infographic, report and diagram maker

Online design tool for infographics, reports, timelines and diagrams with templates and AI generation.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Visily

AI-powered wireframes and UI mockups

Web-based UI design tool that turns screenshots, sketches or text into editable wireframes and mockups.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Visme

Create presentations, infographics and reports online

Online tool for building presentations, infographics, reports, charts and other visual content, aimed at businesses and educators.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

VistaCreate

Online graphic design editor with templates

Browser-based design editor with templates for social media posts, flyers and ads, from Vista (formerly Crello).

Free plan · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

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